Focus. good tidings of. Fear not: for, December Faith United Methodist Church Events This Month. behold, I bring you. great joy, which shall

Transcription

1 Focus December 2017 Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people Luke 2:10 Faith United Methodist Church Events This Month December 3 Feed the Need Santa Express Begins December 9 Breakfast w/santa Children s Practice December 10 Children s Program Open House Santa Express December 11 Dora Circle December 12 Beer & Hymns December 16 Men s Breakfast Cantata Rehearsal December 17 Cantata Santa Express Delivery December 21 Longest Night Service December 24 Christmas Eve Service December 25 Christmas December 31 Fellowship Meal Church Office Hours: Mon-Thurs from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Article Submission Deadlines: Bulletin: Tuesdays by 3:00 January s Newsletter: By December 18 to faithumc16@sbcglobal.net, or call, OR send a note in a pretty Christmas card attached to a plate or box of peanut butter Hershey kiss cookies (dark chocolate preferred) and some decaf coffee. Excited enough with Christmas coming, don t need regular coffee. Weekly Events Sunday: Sunday School, 9:30 a.m. Worship Service, 10:30 a.m. Tuesday: Women s Bible Study, 10:00 a.m. Wednesday: Choir Practice, 6:30 p.m. Church Office:

2 C a m e r o n t a r y Christmas creep is the phrase I hear used to describe the way Christmas decorating seems to start earlier and earlier in the year. I think we may have hit the limit on the start of Christmas, though, because back to school specials take up as much space as holiday décor. The stores can t start Christmas displays until school is back in session. Of course, school is starting The stores can t earlier than it did when I was in school, but, whenever it starts seems to be start Christmas the beginning of the holiday displays until decorating season. The candy aisles and some of school is back in the decoration spots get session. Halloween and Thanksgiving traffic for a few weeks but Christmas things appear as early as August. We complain and say how terrible it is that Christmas creep is a thing. We find ourselves all stressed and grumpy before we are even ready. We turn into Scrooge as soon as that first hint of commercial Christmas peeks out at us. Interestingly, as December transitions into January, we say that the spirit of Christmas should last all through the year. So, what do we do, how do we respond to Christmas creep? The response that gets all the press is to be outraged about Christmas taking over before we even get to Halloween. Another choice is to recognize that this is the way retail works. Stores start selling shorts and swimming suits in February, just after the Presidents Day linen and white sales, so we can have those latest styles for our spring break trips to Florida, Mexico, or other warm climates. Oh, not going to a warm area for spring break, not interested in a swimming suit at this or any other time of the year? No matter. Walk by those displays without so much as a nod in that direction. But put out a Christmas tree or a strand of colored lights before Thanksgiving and we are ready to explode. Maybe we can simply walk by those displays until we are ready to shop for lights and décor. December 2017 At the District Conference, November 12, we were told that 60% of the district and conference tithes are received in December. A lot of retail, especially brick and mortar stores, also get a large percentage of their income and profits at the end of the year as people shop for Christmas and holiday gifts and decorations. Can we blame a business for attempting to spread the profits out a bit more through the year? I know we do, I am asking if it is fair to do so. Perhaps our fear is that the stores will rob Christmas of its meaning by being so commercialized for so much of the year. Or worse, that we will get drawn into the commercial part of the holidays and forget about the true meaning of and Christmas. Jesus continues to come to us, at Christmas and throughout the year. Imagine how different our lives would be if we only experienced the presence of God in Christ at Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Easter, and Pentecost. The anticipation of those days would be increased 100 fold, however, our lives would be much poorer and fruitless if we had to wait for those few days to experience the loving presence of God. We could no longer say that God s love is steadfast or abiding because it would be limited. We could call God s love dependable because of the guarantee that God would express love to us these four days in any given year. I prefer the abiding presence and steadfast love of God. Christmas creep may be a reality. That does not mean we need to be upset by it. Christmas and the surrounding holidays have become commercialized. That does not mean we need to be drawn into it. When we focus on our preparation for the coming of Christ into our lives and the world, we may discover that the trappings of Christmas are simply one more way of preparing and celebrating. When we see the season that way, it all contributes to the abundance we receive and celebrate in the abiding presence of God in Christ. Grace and Peace, Cameron

3 Dear Faith Family, Thank you for all the prayers, cards, and delicious food. I hope to be back to church before long. Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated. I am so blessed to have so many church friends. God bless and thank you so much. LaVeta Fleetwood Offering Envelopes Please be sure and pick up your offering envelopes this month which will be in the narthex. If you don t currently have an assigned envelope box, just ask Pam and a number will be assigned to you. In addition, we will give out Stewardship Commitment Cards this month for Please remember to return them by the end of December. Thank you! Christmas Breaks Crafty Ones will reconvene in January. Tuesday morning Bible Study will not meet December 26 and January 2. Happy New Year! Anniversaries Joe & Marian Borondy December 1 Eddie & Amanda Santiago December 14 Vicki & Ben Clem December 23 Birthdays Pat Snyder December 8 Bruce Mack December 11 Rick Davis December 12 Candy Gauer December 21 Austin Hartshorn December 27 Cameron Pitzer December 27 Dora Circle Christmas Luncheon Monday, December 13 11:00 a.m. at Olive Garden Business meeting and dessert to follow at Faith at 1:00 p.m. Welcome New Members Joyce Arterberry, Barbara Stokes, and Brad and Robin Winslow Operation Christmas Child Report Thank you Faith family for helping to send 19 boxes for Operation Christmas Child. If you want to follow the path of a shoebox, go to: samaritanspurse.org Thanks, again, for your support. November Guests Last month we welcomed: Karen, Sarah, and Becca Williams A smile is a great welcome. Faith United Methodist Church 9031 E 16th Street, Indianapolis, IN Phone: faithumc16@sbcglobal.net Website: faithumc16.org Facebook: facebook.com/faithumc1965

4 Open House at the Manifolds Come to the parsonage, 8127 Forsythia Court For a time of fellowship and refreshments Sunday, December 10 4:00-6:00 p.m. Devotionals devotionals are available for your use during this joyous season. Please select one from the table in the narthex. This is a great family experience leading up to Christmas. Thanks for Doing Missions So glad to see playing cards in the offering plate. When you or a group you belong to do some type of missions, please add a playing card to the offering plate to let us know you have done missions. There will be lots of opportunities in the next couple of months, so take some time, lend a hand, and share a playing card. And, let us know your mission work someone might want to join you. Music, Mittens, Mail, & Santa Santa Express, December This is the date that you can bring your Faith family Christmas cards. (see next page) You can pick up your cards on December 17. Make plans now to invite your little ones and friends to our yearly Breakfast with Santa on December 9 at 9:30 a.m. There will be a light breakfast, a craft, and best of all the opportunity to have your photo taken with Santa. Please be sure to sign the form in the narthex so we can know how many to expect. Immediately following (11:00) there will be practice for the children s Christmas program. On Sunday, December 10, the children will present a special Christmas message during the morning worship service at 10:30 a.m. You won t want to miss the chance to see our kids in action! The choir will present this year s Christmas Cantata And it Came to Pass on Sunday, December 17, as part of regular worship. The Cantata tells the story of Jesus birth with lush melodies, intriguing harmonies, and vivid, exciting narration. Invite your family and friends to share this beautiful worship experience with us. Choir practice will be Saturday, the 16th, at 9:30 a.m. December 21 is the longest night of the year. For those that are grieving nights are often the most difficult. To give or receive some support and encouragement, join us for an evening of worship at 7:00 p.m. on this Thursday night. All are welcome. And we can t forget Christmas Eve. The most wonderful night of the year! Join us for an evening of candlelight, song, and scripture at 7:00 p.m., and some Christmas hugs to share. Speaking of sharing, the Mitten Tree is in the narthex waiting for your donations of gloves, hats, and scarves for the Fletcher Place until January 7.

5 Santa Express Checklist (Not the naughty or nice list) Yes, it s time! As in the past, Faith Fellowship will be acting as our post office to help distribute Christmas cards for you to save on postage. IF you want to use the Santa Express this year to send out Christmas Cards to the church family, here is a checklist of Faith families to help you in addressing Christmas cards. Keep in mind that some on the list are shut-ins and help will be needed in distributing those cards. Remember to put your cards in alphabetical order to aid sorting, with a rubber band to hold them in place. And don t forget to pick up your cards on December 17th. 1. Joyce Arterberry 2. Dana Bandy 3. Barbara Bayliff 4. Joe & Marian Borondy* 5. Alberta Bradley 6. Tom & Susan Bradley 7. Todd & Tammie Buchanan 8. Bill & Janet Buntain 9. Jeri Burgess 10. Vicki & Ben Clem 11. Doug & Susan Corey 12. Rich & Julie Davis 13. Shirley Dobbs* 14. Alice Douglas* 15. Matt & Cherilyn Eby 16. Gil & Pat Everett 17. LaVeta Fleetwood 18. Jody & Rich Fleming 19. Janice Flora* 20. Jay & Lori Flora 21. Pat Garrity 22. Candy & Gene Gauer 23. Janice George* 24. Harold & Dee Gossman 25. Todd & Lisa Habig 26. Moe & Phyllis Hammonds 27. Carole Harkness 28. James & Shannon Harlan 29. J.D. & Cindy Hartshorn 30. Shelley Hill 31. Marilyn Holliday* 32. Charlotte King 33. Dave King 34. Margaret Knight 35. Dick Lahr 36. Lori Leach 37. Diane Lee* 38. Deanna Leinbach* 39. Bruce Mack 40. Wilma Mack 41. Alison Manifold 42. Cameron & Becky Manifold 43. Gustina Mann-Ray* 44. Dave & Jodi Martin 45. Helen Nelson 46. Rob & Cathy Norman 47. Bertha O Grady* 48. Dana & Bob Oakes 49. David & Barbara Paugh* 50. William & Susan Pease* 51. Tim & Pam Pedigo 52. Judy Pierce* 53. Sherman & Alison Pitzer 54. Helmut & Mary Pliquett 55. Doris Ray* 56. Cheryl Rexrode 57. Sandy Riley 58. Sheri Riley 59. Ruth Rogers 60. Gil & Bev Ryan 61. Steve Ryan* 62. Ed & Julie Santiago 63. Eddie & Amanda Santiago 64. Bob & Sue Scroggs 65. Fred & Jackie Seddon 66. Rose Shaw 67. Pat Snyder 68. Matt & Kim Spencer 69. Sharman Spencer 70. Barbara Squires* 71. Barb Stokes 72. Brad & Robin Winslow *Shut-Ins or Recently Moved

6 December 2017 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17 Faith United Methodist Church 9031 E 16th Street Indianapolis, IN Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat st Sunday in Feed the Need Santa Express Begins Pat Snyder 9 Breakfast with Santa, 9:30 a.m. Play practice, 11:00 a.m. 10 2nd Sunday in Santa Express Children s Program Open House 4:00 p.m. 11 Dora Circle Luncheon, 11:00 a.m. 12 Beer & Hymns, 6:00 p.m Men s Breakfast, 7:30 a.m. Cantata Practice, 9:30 a.m. Hall in Use 2:00 p.m. Bruce Mack Rick Davis 17 3rd Sunday in Choir Cantata Santa Express Delivery Hall in Use 12:30 p.m Longest Night Service, 7:00 p.m. Candy Gauer th Sunday in Christmas Eve Service, 7:00 No Bible Study Austin Hartshorn Cameron Pitzer 31 Fellowship Meal January 1 2 No Bible Study New Year s Eve